How to Apply for SFUSD Wait Pool

The San Francisco Unified School District mails the Round 2 assignment letters in Early June.

All families who applied for Round 2 receive a letter. Your letter might assign your child to a school you requested on your Round 2 application. If you were not placed into any of your Round 2 requested schools, then your letter might:

  • Confirm that your child is still assigned at your registered school.

  • Notify you that your child has no school assignment because you did not accept your initial offer.

  • Offer your child an assignment to the school closest to your home with an open seat, if Round 2 was your first application in this enrollment cycle.

All parents who receive a new assignment should register at their assigned schools by the mid June deadline that will be stated in the letter from SFUSD.

If you do not register by the deadline, then your child loses the spot and you will have to start the process over. If you register by the deadline, then your child holds that spot even if you submit an application for the Wait Pool. If you register, your held spot is released only if you are assigned to another school or program that you want more.

If you registered at your initial assigned school, and the Round 2 letter confirms that assignment, you do not need to register again.

If you are pleased with your assigned school, then you only need to register by the mid June deadline, and you are finished with the assignment process. Congratulations!

If you would like to apply for another school, then by the June deadline you should register at your assigned school and submit a June Wait Pool application by the August deadline.

To participate in the Wait Pool, parents must submit their applications by the early August deadline.

The application for the Wait Pool is called the Wait Pool Form. It is available on the SFUSD website. You do not need to resubmit proof of address documentation with your Wait Pool application.

You may only request one school for the wait pool.

Only request a school on your Wait Pool Form that you want more than the school where your child is already registered.

If the district is able to offer you your wait pool school or program in the Wait Pool, you automatically lose your previous assignment. So only apply to a school or program that you want more.

Seats are assigned using the same system of tie-breakers and lottery that were used in previous placement periods.

The SFUSD will notify families who receive their wait pool request between mid-August and early September. This may be a phone call.

If you receive a new assignment as a result of the June Wait Pool, then:

  • You receive notification of the assignment.

  • Your child’s spot in their previously registered school may be released

  • You must register your child at the new assigned school.

  • This is your child’s final assignment. You are not eligible to participate in additional wait pools.

If you do not receive a new assignment in the Wait Pool, then:

  • You do not receive a notification.

  • Your child remains assigned to their registered school if you registered in time.

  • Your child does not have a school assignment if you did not register at your previously offered school.

We understand that it can be stressful to finish this school year while being uncertain about next year’s school placement. Please hang in there! In a previous year, over 700 families received their wait pool school.

We are here to help you if you have any questions about your next steps: